Compromise
by Foot Tapper
Summary: Takes place after 'Reptile Boy' in Season 2 and shows Buffy dealing with her calling plus a little slayerage thrown in for good measure! Pairing shown is Buffy/Angel.


**Compromise**

**Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer  
Pairing: Buffy & Angel  
Betaed by: helygen and menomegirl (my pals at LiveJournal - thank you!)**

**Rating: K**

**Disclaimer:The characters don't belong to me – I'm just borrowing them!**

**Summary: Takes place after 'Reptile Boy'**

**PART ONE:**

"Come on Giles, pleeeease. Free period is the _only_ chance I'm going to get to study for this latest exam from Hell. I mean honestly, just how much math does a girl need to survive in this world anyway? Even less for me as I probably won't live that long to use it." Buffy sighed. There just wasn't any positive spin she could put on the fact that she wasn't going to live long enough to draw Social Security.

While Giles took a deep breath before trying to reason with her again, Buffy noticed the newspaper lying on the table. Giles had obviously turned immediately to the obituaries and had circled the death of twin brothers. Changing the subject in a way that only a teenager could, Buffy asked, "Hey Giles? Is there something weird about this? Is that why you red-penned it?"

Giles looked at where she was pointing. The headline read, _"Johnson brothers killed in car crash."_

"Er, no actually. It appears as if the two brothers took their neighbour's car out joy riding and managed to crash into a brick wall, killing them both instantly. The neighbour thought he saw a third person when they made off with the car but only the brothers were found in the wreckage. So, nothing for us to investigate but I always make a point of highlighting the recent deaths. In case we...o-o-r I should say, _you_ come across them – again, so to speak."

Buffy replied sardonically, "Great hobby you got going there."

"Yes, well, one has to stay alert, which is why I insist that you adhere to my training schedule."

"But Giles –"

Giles continued as if she hadn't spoken. "I-I-I know it's difficult for you to juggle everything, Buffy but as you know, there are no days off for the chosen one. You can study for your exam for a couple of hours after school before you have to go on patrol. In the meantime, you will come to me at three o'clock for some further weapons training."

Buffy shook her head and slowly rose out of her seat. "Nope, can't do that either. Mom has us scheduled for some mother-daughter bonding where I basically have to follow her round the mall saying 'Yeah that looks great on you Mom!' while I can obviously buy nothing. So no, I can't study then either. I _have_ to study this afternoon! Giles, if I fail this exam then Snyder's gonna get straight on the phone to my Mom and then you can forget any after school stuff, she'll ground me _forever_."

Buffy hitched her bag on to her shoulder. "Anyway, what happened to that 'no more pushing and an inordinate amount of nudging idea'?"

Giles smothered a smile that tried to force itself upon him. "Yes, well, I'm nudging now. Just as I promised." The smile pushed and pushed until he could not control it. "Alright Buffy, no weapons training this afternoon, but I would appreciate it if you could at least go on patrol."

"You got it! Study, shop, slay! I mean, who could ask for more?" she asked as she backed out of the library with a sad but wry look on her face.

**PART TWO:**

Xander headed down the corridor thinking over his day so far. He'd met with Willow and Buffy before school started and then they'd wandered off to their respective classes, each in a separate direction. Mr. Winter, he of the science torture, had lectured him on not paying attention and Miss Taylor had effectively ignored him throughout the entire English class.

So basically, his average Tuesday morning. It was now lunch time, he had no idea what the girls were doing, so he decided to go to the library as that seemed the most logical place to find them. Instead, he walked straight into Buffy as she backed out of the swing door. Stumbling back into the corridor but just managing to just keep his footing, he looked at Buffy like she'd gone mad.

"Watch it, woman! You have a sensitive, emotionally charged young man here. One that doesn't have slayer strength," he added meaningfully.

"Sorry," replied Buffy and after a beat, "Emotionally charged?"

Xander looked indignant. "Well, I'm still recovering from the whole Impata experience. It's not every day you fall in love with a beautiful woman only to find that she wants to suck the life out of you. It's not pleasant, Buffy."

Buffy raised one eyebrow. "You were in love? Wow. That was fast."

"Okay, not in love exactly but in lust at least. I feel scarred. Honestly."

Xander looked so earnest in his statement that Buffy couldn't bring herself to make fun of him any longer. They began to make their way down the corridor and were met by a breathless Willow jogging towards them.

"You guys left the library already? Oh no, did I miss anything? My computer class finished late and I thought there might be, you know, new developments in the demon world." Willow looked expectantly at Buffy and Xander while they exchanged a bemused look.

Buffy led Willow back down the corridor towards the cafeteria and said kindly, "Developments in the demon world? Who are you, Giles now? Nothing has happened, OK? We were just talking about Xander's Impata drama so no, you didn't miss anything."

"Oh, _thanks,_" Xander said, holding the door of the lunch room open for the girls.

The school cafeteria was heaving with students too hungry to care that the food was way below standard and it was obvious that they would never find a seat. Instead, they wandered outside to the sunshine and a relatively quiet area near the trees.

Xander spotted fellow classmate Scott Chambers and headed over to ask him for the notes from his earlier English class while Buffy and Willow sat at a bench in the shade. Willow noticed that Buffy seemed a little quiet. "You OK Buffy?"

"Sure. I have lunch now with you guys, history with Mr. Willis which hey, could be worse. Then free period for studying and a shopping trip with my Mom. So it's peachy keen." Buffy shrugged as if to say "no big" but Willow knew there was more going on. Buffy caught Willow's scrutinising gaze and confessed, "It's just that I still have no time for myself. I thought after what happened with Tom that Giles would cut me a break once in a while but I just never have any time. I feel like I can't breathe sometimes."

Willow felt for her friend. Even though she and Xander helped as much as they could, they could never know what it felt like to carry the burden left to Buffy. She tried another topic to cheer her up. "Have you spoken to Angel since then?"

Buffy brightened up at the sound of his name. "Yep. I bumped into him while slaying a really horrible looking demon last night." Buffy frowned at the memory. "We're talking stereotypical green gunge. I couldn't stay long though because the gunge was starting to burn, but I might see him on patrol again tonight," she said with a hopeful hint in her voice.

"See? There _is_ something to smile about after all!" chimed in Willow, who was relieved to see Buffy smiling again.

**PART THREE:**

Buffy crept silently through the grave yard, carefully picking her way through the head stones. Her mind wandered from the task in hand as she thought back to her shopping trip. It had been more fun than Buffy had expected and even though she left the mall empty handed, she did manage to persuade her mother that a certain pair of earrings were _the _item to have so she felt sure they would appear as one of her Christmas presents this year.

As she progressed deeper into the cemetery grounds, predictably a vampire came across her path. Fresh out of the ground, he wore a black suit stained with mud and he looked slightly disorientated yet elated at the same time.

The vampire looked at her keenly. Buffy gave him a cold look full of disdain.

"OK. Let's go. I don't have all night," she said wearily.

"Huh? All night for what?"

Buffy sighed. Clearly, this vampire wasn't on the same page yet. She decided to help him out. Speaking slowly, she said, "_You_ are a vampire. _I_ am the vampire _slayer_. You attack _me_. I kill _you_. There's dust. Lots of it. Then I go home and take the longest shower ever and the world keeps turning. Are you with me now?"

The vampire appeared to take in what she said and initially took a step back. Buffy studied him and his reaction and realised that she may have spoken hastily. This guy wasn't stupid.

"So you're a _vampire_ _slayer_. Cool job," he acknowledged. He carefully began to circle the head stone which stood between them.

Buffy mirrored his steps, watching for any sudden movements. "Yeah. It's pretty cool. Wanna see my work?"

Barely allowing her words to register, she leapt over the headstone and raised her weapon ready to stake him. The vampire was quicker than she expected and jumped out of the way throwing a punch at her right side as she flew past him. Her ribs took the brunt of the punch and she groaned as she landed with a roll. Standing quickly, she looked round for him. The vampire was gone.

Buffy moved forward quietly, looking this way and that but could see no sign of him. Then she heard an almost silent step behind her. Swivelling quickly she threw out an arm to hold off the attacker, only to come into contact with a dark haired, dark attired young man.

Angel stepped back a little but was not hurt and looked at her in surprise. "Hey," he said quietly. "New technique in saying hello?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Yeah. My goodbyes are even better." Angel remained silent, waiting for her to explain. "I thought you were the vampire I was trying to slay. Man, I'm off my game tonight. Did he go past you?"

"No. Maybe you scared him off." Angel looked at her evenly, giving nothing away in his expression. Buffy nodded as though considering it but her body still hummed in alert, waiting for the vampire to return at any moment.

"So, you're out patrolling again tonight? What, no rest for the wicked?" Realising her mistake, she hurried on, "I mean, not that you're wicked because you're not. Any more. I mean, it's a well-used phrase. Among my people. Not that you're not my people...or a person even. Oh God!" she cried, shaking her head and stepping back a little to try and distance herself from the carnage of her rambling.

At Angel's silence, she risked looking up at him. He was smiling broadly. This was not a look she was used to. "I'm sorry. I was just trying to make with the small talk."

Angel nodded. "Yeah, but I don't think you need me to do that. You just had an entire conversation on your own."

Buffy gave a small laugh at this and shrugged. "I just thought that after everything that happened the other week, we might try for conversation and…"

"A date. Yeah, I know." He paused as if weighing up what to say. "So, when are you free? 'Cause I'm free whenever." He said the last part with a shrug and Buffy realised he was trying for nonchalance.

Irked that he still found it difficult to show his interest in her, she threw him a glare as she moved away from him. "Yeah well, whenever. I mean, there's no rush is there? It's just coffee and God knows what horrors might follow that! We could be looking at dinner and a _movie!_"

Angel followed her as she stomped angrily through the cemetery. "Buffy, wait!" He caught her arm and turned her towards him. "Look I didn't mean – I –." Lowering his voice he added, "I meant that I'm always free for you, Buffy."

She looked up at his intense gaze and wondered how his eyes could look so warm when his touch was so cold. Her eyes flickered down towards his lips and she remembered how cool they felt when he kissed her. He was the ice to her fire and she was burning right now.

Buffy tilted her head slightly, offering her mouth to him and he claimed it softly, not wanting to rush it. She moved closer to him and moved her hands slowly up his arms to his neck. Following her lead, he moved his arms around her waist, holding her tightly against him. They kissed for what felt like a long time and when they eventually drew back, Buffy was breathless.

Buffy smiled up at him, "That was ni–." Suddenly there was a loud roar and the vampire from earlier attacked them from the left.

Angel and Buffy immediately fell into battle stance and squared up against him. The vampire had gained strength even in the ten minutes that had elapsed and chose to go up against Angel first. Angel took a heavy blow to the head before firing off a low kick and the vampire fell back to the floor. Buffy jumped on top of him, punched him in the face several times before he threw her backwards towards a headstone.

Crashing into the stone, Buffy was stunned briefly only to come round to Angel beating the hell out of the demon. Fully vamped-out, he was calling her. "Buffy! Stake!"

Buffy struggled to her feet and reached into her coat pocket for her stake but it had been dropped in the earlier confrontation. With no other weapon, Buffy approached quickly and joined Angel in beating upon the vampire who was kicking, yelling and refusing to go down.

Irritated, Angel hissed, "Where's your stake?"

Buffy, not used to being criticised on her slaying skills, spat back, "I dropped it! Where's _yours_?"

The vampire, sensing an opportunity to make a break for it, pushed Angel back into Buffy as they argued and started running into the darkness. With a roar, Angel followed him, Buffy close on his heels.

In pursuit, Angel yelled over his shoulder, "Where's your spare?"

Buffy charged after him and in between sharp, hard breaths, she managed to reply, "In _this_ outfit? Are you kidding? There's no room for a spare! What's your excuse? Too much brooding to have room for a stake?"

Angel chose to ignore that remark and continued running. The other vampire was quick and almost out of sight.

Buffy was growing bored of the chase. "Split up!" she called, "We'll hit him at two angles!" and with that, she sped off to the left while Angel took the right without even looking back. Buffy wondered how he'd known which direction she would take but it was a passing thought. There was slaying to be done.

The vampire, while quick, was still adjusting to his new 'life' and strangely felt a compulsion to stay within the cemetery grounds. Circling the cemetery, he assumed that both Buffy and Angel were behind him. He was wrong. Without warning, he took a heeled boot to the face and went down. Another kick to the ribs sent him rolling over and he tried desperately to crawl away. As he crawled, he came across another pair of black boots. He looked upwards and saw that the owner would never need heels. Angel smiled menacingly at him.

Buffy broke a branch off a nearby tree and yelled for Angel. He looked up and caught the flying branch perfectly. Snapping it in two, he put one foot on the vampire's chest and then thrust downwards quickly.

Then there was dust. Lots of it.

Buffy walked slowly up to him and looked him over. Almost to herself, she said, "You're gonna need to take the longest shower ever, but the world is still turning."

"Buffy?" She looked at his confused expression and softened her gaze. "Never mind," she replied and looked around, vaguely wondering what time it was.

"You alright?" asked Angel. "You seem a little distracted."

"I'm just …. I don't know. I'm still trying to find time for school, time for slaying, time for Mom, time for training, time for my friends, time for …." she trailed off not wanting to admit that finding time for him was becoming a priority.

Angel took her hand. "So …… do you have time for a date?" Buffy stared up at him, thinking that he really could read her mind sometimes.

"I'll make time," she replied, smiling. "How about tomorrow night? Darn, can't do it. I have further weapons training with Giles. My punishment for missing out today. How about Thursday at The Bronze, say 7 o'clock?"

Angel smiled his acknowledgement. "Okay."

Buffy and Angel walked slowly back to her house. They talked very little on the short journey but felt no need to fill the gaps in the conversation. As they reached the side of the house she turned to him, feeling a sadness at not being able to see him for a couple of days. "So, I'll see you on Thursday at seven?"

Angel nodded. "If not before." He bent down to kiss her and was gone before she could fully register it. Looking around, she wondered if she would ever be quick enough to see him leave.

Climbing back into her bedroom window, Buffy smiled as she thought of what it would be like to go on a date with Angel. _"Just two more days to wait and then_ _Halloween!"_ she thought as she snuggled under the covers ...

**THE END.**


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